Dead Sea
by ELO072397
Summary: Cassie just lost her family during the attack on the prison group, on her own she loses sight of who she is and turns back to the comfort of alcohol, something she gave up long ago. Will a chance meeting with Rick and Carl help her to find herself again or will the guilt consume her alive? Set after midseason finale. Rick/OC. Originally posted under diff username, but acct broke.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead, I wish I did but I just borrow the characters once in awhile.

Authors Note: Cassie is represented by the actress Claire Bowen. This takes place after the attack on the prison during the midseason finale.

The room was still dark when Cassie woke up. She had been staying in the abandoned bar for about a week now. And in that week she had fallen back into old habits. The young woman had managed to not drink throughout the entire apocalypse, then again she had not been alone till now. Cassie had been travelling with her family when everything went down. They were heading to Georgia to visit her mother's family, and they were in Macon when the walkers rose. She had felt thankful that neither of her parents had been killed. It wasn't like they were a group with a lot of survival skills. Her mother had been a southern belle, her father the mayor of Nashville. And Cassie, well all she knew was what she had learned watching survival shows on television. But somehow against all odds the trio had persevered, up until about two weeks prior.

It had been just a stupid mistake. Cassie still blamed herself. They had joined up with a group, something that they always tried to avoid. But there were women in the group and they had weapons and supplies that the trio desperately needed. All was going good until the man with one eye had shown up with two women and a child. She could tell that Martinez knew the man, knew more than the story they had told. But she ignored her instincts and went along with the flow. The next thing she knew Martinez was dead, some others were missing and they had kidnapped a one legged man and a black woman.

Cassie knew that they should have run then. But her mother looked so tired, and her father, well it seemed he had lost the will to go on. So she stayed silent and grabbed the gun that was tossed to her and followed along as they went to try and take a prison. She shook her head and grabbed a half full bottle of vodka, raising it to her lips and taking a few gulps. She was still feeling the buzz she had when she had first fallen asleep, so she could not have been out for very long. It had been her parents that had kept her from the alcohol throughout the past couple years. Without them, travelling alone she lost the will to stay sober, couldn't seem to find a reason too. So for the past week she had been drinking trying to forget seeing her father get his throat torn out, her mother shot as she tried to get out of attacking the prison. Cassie had fled in the chaos and just kept moving.

But the guilt had been eating at her. Cassie knew her mother was still alive when she fled, but she left the woman there to bleed out and turn. It was selfish, but she had been terrified, and knew that it would have been hard to take care of the injured woman on her own. She had fled with no supplies but her gun and some spare ammo shoved in a pocket. At night she hid in trees, during the day she ran as far as she could. It took her a week to find the small town, and like a moth to the flame she was drawn to the bar. It was a surprise that when she entered there were no walkers around, and the place was intact, someone had boarded the windows so all she had to do was barricade the door. That first day she sat on a stool and downed a bottle of whiskey before searching the place for supplies. There was plenty of liquor obviously. Food wise she found some bags of stale chips, a box full of little bags of peanuts and sunflower seeds and one case of bottled water. There was also a shotgun and a box of shells beneath the bar. It wasn't much, but she was happy to have any food at all. Cassie was pretty much worthless when it came to hunting.

When she found the bedroom upstairs she had almost let out a squeal of delight. But her time on the road with her parents had taught her to be quiet. So the drunken girl collapsed on the bed and passed out for a full twenty-four hours. Now she was down to a few bottles of water, about 10 packets of nuts and still lots of alcohol. Cassie knew that it was time to move on, but she didn't want to leave the small haven that she had found for herself. Since being there she hadn't needed to kill any walkers, she hadn't seen any people either. It was a solitary existence, but she was able to drink as much as she wanted in an attempt to forget. But the forgetting never happened.

The room was starting to lighten as the sun came up and she stood up slowly and made her way to the dresser bottle still in hand. She set it down on the dusty surface and looked up at the mirror and scowled at her reflection. Her curly blonde hair was frizzy and her blue eyes looked haunted. There were dark circles surrounding them and she was filthy. She yearned to take a shower, but knew that would not happen anytime soon and she could not waste what water she had to use for washing. It would be a waste of what she had, and Cassie knew she needed every bottle out on the road. She would have to leave soon, but figured she could search the town she was in for more supplies before heading out. The young woman took another swig of vodka before peering out the window, there didn't seem to be any walkers milling about and she knew that she should get started on scavenging while she could. There were a few houses across the street and a small general store that she figured would be a good place to start. Her eyes burned and she rubbed them wearily, it probably was not the best idea to go out there while intoxicated, but she always had been a functioning alcoholic.

The petite woman grabbed an empty backpack from next to the bed and slowly crept down the stairs. She heard no noises from below but would rather be safe than sorry. In one hand she carried a butchers knife that she had found discarded outside the bar, there had been blood staining the silver blade that she had cleaned. It was not the best of knives, but it was silent and she had learned long ago that a silent weapon was for the best. A cursory look around the bar showed it was still empty, the door jammed shut with a stool and table in front of it, none of the windows disturbed. Her hands shook as she moved the barricade; she was not looking forward to going outdoors, but knew it had to be done. She glanced back and hesitated wanting to drink more before heading out. But with a deep breath she shoved open the door and blinked as she stepped into the sunlight. It was bright even though it was early. She blinked a few times before closing the door behind her, hoping that no one would break into her hideaway while she was gone.

Cassie moved slowly across the silent street. It was a hot day, not even the wind blew to disturb the heavy heat that settled on her. She knew that it would not be long before she was covered in sweat. She wiped moist palms on her denim clad thighs before glancing around and heading to an empty house directly across from the bar. She paused near the door and looked around again to make sure no one was near, or approaching. Not seeing or hearing anything the young woman moved to one of the windows and peeked in. The room looked abandoned, stuff tossed about. It was not looking like she would find much, but she still had to try. The door opened easily when she pushed it, another disheartening signal she walked in and took a slow breath in through her nose. The room smelt musty and there was the faint odor of rotting food. But she didn't smell the rank scent the walkers left behind.

Cassie leaned against the wall for a moment and sighed her head was spinning slightly from the heat and alcohol in her system, but she only took enough time to steady herself before moving further into the house, closing the door behind her. She breathed slowly as she walked forward and frowned when she noticed the footsteps in the dust. There were two sets, one smaller than the other. She knew that they had to have been placed somewhat recently since there was not even a thin layer of dust covering them. Cassie gripped the knife tighter as she crept forward as quietly as possible hoping that the floor would not squeak and give her away if anyone was still inside the house. She just hoped they had moved on already, her last experience with a group had soured her on the whole thing.

A sound came from the kitchen and she froze not even risking taking a breath. Cassie heard someone rifling through cabinets and glanced around looking to see if there was anywhere she could hide. But that went out the window when the front door to the house opened once again.

"Who are you?" The voice from behind her sounded young and she figured it belonged to the smaller set of foot prints that she had seen. Cassie wondered what the odds were of her escaping but saw someone come from the kitchen at the sound of the voice. Her face paled when she recognized the man before her, he had been at the prison, had been what she assumed was the leader of the group.

"Cassie." She whispered before swallowing. During the fight she had been towards the back so it was possible that they would not know who she was. The man before her had a weary look in his eyes, but did not seem to recognize her. Cassie just hoped that it would stay that way. It wouldn't likely matter to them that she had not wanted to attack, she was still there when they lost what they considered home. "Please, I had no idea that anyone was here. I will leave y'all alone. Just let me go."

"Are you alone?" The man had a husky voice as he spoke and studied the woman. Cassie's eyes scanned him and widened slightly when she noticed that his shirt was crusty with dried blood. But a patch near his ribs on the left side looked to be still wet.

"I don't have anyone, not anymore." Cassie's eyes darted to the side as she spoke again and saw a sullen looking teenager with a sheriff's hat walking around a gun trained on her. She felt her heart start to thud in her chest and prayed that he wouldn't shoot, there was no way in her intoxicated state that she would be able to avoid getting hit, not at this distance. "I've been staying in the bar across the way." Her arm went behind her gesturing towards where her hide out lay.

"You don't have to go just yet." The older man said still studying her. "Have you seen anyone else wandering around here? We lost our group." His voice was starting to get weaker and she shook her head, eyes darting around the room trying to figure out a way to escape the situation. The man looked at the other person in the room, "Did you have any luck?" He asked gesturing at the bag in the boys hand with a grimace of pain.

"Some. Was able to find some first aid supplies next door, should be able to patch you up." He kept his eyes trained on Cassie as he responded. "But I couldn't find any antibiotics to help with the infection." They hadn't had any time to stop and treat the wound and now he worried that they would be too late halting it.

"I have some." Cassie said surprising herself. She was trying to get away, and here she was offering them help. She didn't understand it, but guessed it had to do with the guilt. "They are in the bar with my supplies."

"Lead the way." The man said before nodding at the younger one who lowered the gun. "I'm Rick, this is my son Carl." He offered a wary smile at the woman and hoped that she had been being honest with them. He couldn't afford to not trust her at that moment though. His head was pounding and the wound hurt like hell. He needed something to kill the infection; he couldn't bare leaving Carl out on his own.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead, I wish I did but I just borrow the characters once in awhile.

Authors Note: I am currently writing this with no beta, if anyone would like to volunteer please let me know.

Cassie froze before opening the door and turned to look back at Rick and Carl. She knew that she had to help them now, after all she had offered, but Cassie knew she had limited supplies. With a sigh and a small bite down on her lower lip she studied the pair. They both looked worn out, and like they needed to rest. It was unlikely they would be leaving right after she helped to treat the older man.

"If you have any food or such you should probably bring it with." The young woman said softly, "I have some nuts and water but not much. And I think you are going to need to eat." She said gesturing at the wounded man. "But I might be able to scrounge up some fresh clothes."

"If you don't have food how have you been surviving?" Rick asked suspiciously. His tired eyes scanned the younger woman standing before him, she was small yes. But she looked like she was built that way; it certainly did not look as if she had been starving.

"I had found some supplies in the bar I'm holed up in. But they really didn't have much other than alcohol." Cassie said with an audible sigh. As she sighed she noticed Rick breathe in through his nose then eye her up and down. She was sure he smelt the liquor on her breath. "I've been there about a week now, so I managed to get through most of it. That's why I came here, trying to gather supplies before hitting the road again." Cassie was not looking forward to wandering out into the open once again, she was sure that it would be worse than it was before. At least then she had her family, now she had nothing but the guilt she felt at losing them.

"Carl, go gather what you can and meet us across the street." Rick said sparing a glance at his son. He could tell the young woman was drunk, or at the very least buzzed. He needed to be sure she wouldn't be a threat to him or Carl, and the only way he could do that is if they were alone. Though he knew Carl had seen and done things no one his age should have to, he still felt obligated to try and protect him, shield him. "Well let's get over there." He said gesturing to the still closed door.

Cassie sighed once more and readied her knife before opening the door slowly. She peered out into the street and noticed a few walkers about a block down. If they moved quickly and quietly she figured they would not run into any trouble. She just hoped there would be no surprises waiting for her in the bar; Cassie doubted she would be able to take any walkers or other people down at this point. And Rick did not look like he was going to be much help. The blonde looked over her shoulder and put a finger to her lips, gesturing for him to be quiet before dashing across the road as silently as possible. The bar door was still closed and Cassie smiled as she pushed it open peering in, she saw nothing seemed to be out of place and waited for Rick to enter. When he did she closed the door but did not barricade it, leaving it so Carl would have a way in.

Her blue eyes scanned the man standing in the room with her and a small frown crossed her lips. He was paler than he had looked when she first saw him and she hoped that she would be able to help. Cassie made her way over to the bar and set her empty bag upon the dusty surface. Even though she had been there a week the young woman had done little to clean up the place and that was obvious. There was still the faint odor of spilled drinks and vomit in the room, but she had grown used to it. The floorboards creaked behind her as Rick made his way to sit on a barstool studying her with an intense look in his own blue eyes.

"What happened to your group?" Rick asked as he looked at the girl. He knew there was more to her than met the eye and had to be sure that he was not putting Carl in danger by bringing him here.

"Dead, or scattered." Cassie whispered looking down at the ground, "It's just me, has been for a couple weeks now I think." She knew that was not going to be a sufficient answer, but was unsure what to say. The girl knew it needed to be a lie, if he realized she had been involved in the attack on his group he was likely to kill her, even if she had never fired a shot at any of them. Until today Cassie hadn't known what the outcome of the attack was. But it seemed that her group had succeeded at driving them from their home.

"How?" Rick pressed the blonde woman. "Was it walkers or people?" His voice was hoarse and he wished he had some water, but knew this conversation was more important at the moment then asking for a drink. Carl should be arriving soon and he wanted this out of the way before that happened.

"It was a combination of both," Cassie paused and tried to think up a believable lie, "I was with my parents; we fell in with what turned out to be a bad group. My mother was shot for going against the leader; my father got his throat torn out by a walker at the same time. I ran, so I don't know what happened to the others. The only ones I cared about were my parents, and they are gone now." Cassie told him an edited version of the truth and prayed that he would leave it at that. The conversation had left her mouth dry and her mind shouting at her to take another drink. She went behind the bar and knelt down to grab a few bottles of the remaining water. She set three on the bar and opened one and took a gulp before sliding one of them over to Rick. She watched as he opened it and took a drink.

"So for a couple of weeks you have just been on your own?" He asked setting the bottle back down.

"Didn't have much of a choice." Cassie replied with a bitter laugh. She was about to say more when the door opened and she saw Carl walk in. Without a word she went over to the door that he had entered and shoved the table back against it. "The medicine is upstairs; if you wait a minute I will go get it."

She didn't even wait for a response just quickly walked away. She knew that while she was up there they would be talking about her; she just hoped that they wouldn't hurt or kill her and run. The upstairs bedroom was just as she left it, she sat down on the bed and shook her head unsure what she was getting into. Part of her wanted the pair to leave as soon as they had the antibiotics in hand, another part didn't want to be alone again. She felt safer if there were others around, she would have someone watching her back. She opened the nightstand drawer and grabbed a baggie filled with pill bottles, some her family had brought from home others had been gathered in their time travelling. She took a breath in and stood up intending to go right back downstairs. But Cassie noticed the still open bottle of vodka on the dresser and couldn't stop herself from going to it and taking a gulp. One gulp turned into another and after a few minutes passed she realized the bottle was nearly empty. It seemed that was how things had been going for awhile. But she needed the liquor; it would make dealing with the men downstairs easier. She hesitated before setting it back down and turned quickly causing her body to sway slightly as she got light headed. One hand gripped the dresser behind her the other kept a tight grip on the pills. As she walked down the stairs again she heard nothing and wondered if they had left. But she spotted them sitting sipping at the water and going through cans of food.

"I'm not sure exactly what you need." Cassie said as she approached. Rick glanced over at her as Carl jumped slightly at her reappearance. "I just brought down what I have." Cassie knew her voice was slurring slightly, but that couldn't be helped at this point. It was probably just going to get worse that was what drinking on an empty stomach did. But she had grown sick of eating nuts. At the sight of the different cans her stomach let out a loud rumble and she fought back a laugh at the absurdity of the whole situation.

"Well how about we eat and then take a look at what you have?" Rick asked glancing over at the woman. The smell of alcohol was stronger now, and he figured she drank more when she was alone upstairs. He wondered how she had managed to survive this long if she always drank. Here it was not even the afternoon and she was already slurring her speech. It took a good amount of willpower to not question her about it, but he figured it was none of his business if she wanted to drink herself to death.

"Dad are you sure we have enough to share?" Carl's voice was hard and cold as he spoke. He was no longer the innocent boy that he once was. Even he was unsure when he had started to turn into the person he was. But growing up in a world devoid of normalcy would do that to a person.

"She is sharing what she has; we need to do the same." The tone of voice the man spoke with left no room for argument and the younger one huffed before glaring at the blonde who had pulled a seat behind the bar to sit on.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." Cassie offered a smile; she had decided that she needed to find a way to get them to let her tag along. "But we really should at least clean and bandage your side." She gestured to the bloody shirt the man was wearing. "And I am not sure about sizes or anything like that, but there may be some clothes you can change into upstairs. I think the owner lived up there, it's all men's clothes."

"If you insist." Rick said with a half smile. He knew Cassie was right, his side was throbbing and he felt like hell. He just wasn't looking forward to cleaning the wound. He was sure that the scab would have his shirt stuck to it, and the shirt hadn't been too clean when it had been put on to begin with. He reached into the bag Carl had pulled the food from and pulled out a first aid kit. Opening it he grabbed some alcohol wipes and gauze, and then shifted through it till he found some medical tape. He was lucky that Carl had been able to find it, hell Carl had been doing all the scavenging and he was grateful that he was not on his own. He wouldn't have made it if he had been.

Rick stood up and unbuttoned the shirt, he was able to take one arm out easily, but he had to tug the shirt away from the wound on the left and cursed under his breath. He looked up and noticed Cassie eyeing him and wondered if she was checking to see if his wound was a bite. But he noticed that she bit down slightly on her lower lip and rethought her intentions. The shirt fell to the floor and he sat back down on the stool handing the wipes to Carl.

"Try and be quick, but thorough." He told his son, avoiding looking at the woman again. He was unsure what to think of her at the moment. All he knew was she was most likely drunk at this point and he still thought there was more to her story than what she had said.

Carl opened up one of the alcohol wipes and used it to clean the gash on his father's side. He paled as he wiped away the dried blood, but realized that it could be a lot worse than it was. It was most likely infected, but he wasn't entirely sure how to tell, he just went by the fact that the surrounding skin was red and hot to the touch. He flinched as Rick groaned slightly and tried to hurry up. He opened another wipe and repeated the process, it was still bleeding slightly but it didn't seem to be too bad. The gauze was opened next and he folded it into a square slightly larger than the wound, he pressed it against it while Rick ripped some tape to secure it to his body. When it was done both let out a sigh of relief.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead, I wish I did but I just borrow the characters once in awhile.

Authors Note: I am currently writing this with no beta; if anyone would like to volunteer please let me know. I do apologize for the delay with posting this; I have had some problems pop up in my personal life that had taken me away from writing for a bit. I will try and keep up with this story more now that things are starting to settle down.

Flashbacks will be in italics.

Also thank you for the reviews and the follows. I really appreciate it makes me want to write more.

The trio ate the meal in silence, it wasn't all that much. Just a couple cans of cold ravioli's, but still better than how Cassie had been eating lately. As she sat there attempting to use stir straws to eat the food she studied the father and son duo. It was obvious that Rick was highly protective of his son, the way he positioned his stool slightly in front of the younger one showed that. But Cassie doubted Carl needed much protecting, he had the cold haunted look in his eyes that most people seemed to gain after awhile of living amongst the walking dead. She watched the pair silently, it was obvious that there was some tension there, and she wondered what had happened to cause it. But the young woman figured that it was probably not her business, it was already obvious Rick did not trust her much, with reason of course. She finished the can of food in silence and took a few gulps of water trying to keep the food down. The cold pasta did not settle well on the stomach filled with alcohol and she didn't want to risk losing the nutrients that her body desperately needed. These days every bit of food counted. A few deep breaths and she felt her stomach begin to calm. Her eyes went to the duo and watched as they still sat there eating, a lot slower than she had been.

As the young woman glanced down she didn't notice Rick's eyes dart up to study her again. In a way he thought she reminded him a bit of Beth. They both had small builds, blonde hair and a delicate way about them. But he could tell the woman before him was older, and it seemed not handling this world as well as Beth seemed to have been. Though he wondered if she had survived how she was coping with the loss of her father. That may have been enough to break the normally cheerful girl. The guilt at not stopping the Governor from killing his people and scattering his group had been haunting him since that day. But he tried not to let it show for Carl's sake. He knew the boy was mad at him; it was obvious in the way he looked at him and the snide tone his voice took sometimes. And Rick knew he deserved it, he had failed the group.

He finished his can and set it aside and turned his gaze to Carl. The boy was sitting there eating his food with a sullen look on his face. When Cassie had been upstairs he had told Rick in no uncertain terms that he didn't want to be around the girl any longer than they had to. Rick was not quite sure he agreed with his son yet. Deep down, despite all the bad he had seen there was still a part of him that did not want to leave anyone behind. And he was not sure that the drunken blonde sitting before him would survive on her own. He thought it was a miracle she had made it as far as she had. He watched as she sat there one a bar stool swaying slightly in place before leaning forward to steady herself on the counter. Her blue eyes had a glassy look to them and it was hard to read her emotions. The look on her face was almost stoic. He took another drink of water and glanced around the place she had been staying, not somewhere he would have chosen, but it was obviously working for her.

"Can you show me where those clothes are?" Rick asked standing slowly and gripping onto the bar as he steadied himself. He was feeling slightly better after eating and cleaning out the wound, but he was still feeling quite drained from everything. He knew that what he needed most at this moment was to rest, but it was rare than anyone truly got to rest in this world they now lived in.

"Oh, yeah sure." Cassie said as she rose from her stool, barely managing to keep from toppling over. She wasn't feeling quite so drunk anymore, but still had the strong buzz rolling through her system. All she really wanted to do was drink more and pass out, hopefully into a dreamless sleep where she would not have to think about what her life had become. "Hopefully we can find something for your son as well." She said casting a quick glance at the still eating boy. It felt strange after being alone for awhile to have others there. And it was awkward to know for sure that one of the two did not like her.

Cassie led Rick up the stairs into the bedroom that was there and her eyes immediately went to the open and nearly empty bottle of vodka sitting on the dresser. Her mouth started to water and she wanted to take a gulp, but knowing that there was someone else in the room stopped her from doing so. She felt Rick's eyes on her and swallowed quickly before turning her gaze to the man. "There is stuff in the dresser and the closet." As she spoke she gestured to a door on the other side of the room.

"Thank you for this." He said and squeezed her shoulder as she looked down at her. She really was a tiny woman, barely reaching his shoulders. "You didn't have to give me any medicine, or help us with anything, so thanks."

"I did have to help." Cassie said softly, not looking up at him. She feared that if she did then she would have to tell him the truth. Cassie needed to help him and his son, because she felt that she could have stopped what had happened if only she had stopped the person who had attacked there group. Was that really how it would have gone? Well there was no way for her to be sure.

Rick studied the younger woman for a moment before nodding and walking to the dresser. He opened up the top drawer and let out a small laugh at the sight of clean socks and underwear. Even if he found little else, these would make things a lot better than they had been. A quick search through the rest of the drawers found some jeans that would fit him and shirts that he and Carl could both use. There was a pair of sweatpants that he figured Carl could tighten the draw string on and possibly shorten so that they would fit his frame. Definitely a better haul than he thought would be found and he hadn't even checked the closet. Turning around with the clothes in hand he noticed Cassie sitting on the bed staring down at the floor a sad look on her face.

"Thanks, can you just stay up here for a few so Carl and I can change?" Rick asked softly not wanting to startle her.

"Oh yeah sure." Cassie offered a weak smile and ran a hand through her tangled hair. It was strange hearing someone speak to her now, she had gotten used to the silence of being alone. It wasn't something she truly enjoyed, and she doubted her sanity would remain if she had to be alone on a regular basis, but having someone else around was strange. Looking up again she saw that Rick had left, her eyes went back to the bottle on the dresser and she walked softly across the wooden floor and picked it up. She wanted to toss the bottle on the floor and swear off the drinking again, but a small voice in her mind urged her to just take another drink, dull the pain. And at that moment she just wasn't strong enough to ignore that voice. The bottle was raised to her lips and without a sound she drained it. Cassie knew it wouldn't be enough, it was never enough. Sooner or later that voice would perk up again and she would again be staring into a bottle trying to drown her sorrows, knowing that they would resurface again.

_Cassie sat there on the back porch with her boyfriend Jessie each of them holding a bottle of whiskey taking gulps and laughing at the burning sensation they caused. She knew that if her daddy caught her there would be hell to pay, but at that moment all her worries seemed to be drifting away. She had started drinking earlier that summer and found that she enjoyed the feeling it caused. Life seemed so much simpler when she sat there not having to act like that perfect daughter, not having to be composed and proper at all times. She hated that her daddy had been elected as mayor. He never had real time for the family anymore and she was sick and tired of dealing with public events. She wanted to go back to being a normal girl; she had just graduated high school and wanted freedom. Instead she was watched constantly. This seemed to be the only way to feel anything other than anger. _

_They sat there talking for about an hour more and when Cassie looked at the bottle in her hand it was empty. Her head was swimming but she knew that if she didn't get home soon she would be in more trouble than she probably already was. She looked over to the side and saw Jessie leaning against the door snoring away. She wondered if she should wake him up, but didn't want to deal with him getting angry. Instead she stood up grasping the railing as she started to feel lightheaded. A quick shake of the head and she was stumbling to her car._

_Cassie woke up the next morning head pounding not sure how she had made it home. A look out the window showed her car front end dented parked unevenly in the driveway. It looked like she had been in some sort of accident, but really the last thing she remembered was getting ready to leave. She made her way to the bedroom door and listened, but heard no one moving about outside her room, seemed like she was safe for the time being._

With a sigh Cassie set the now empty bottle back down and made her way to where Rick and Carl were downstairs. Her thoughts still on the past that had been her first black out, but it was far from the last. She forced a smile in place and nodded at the two who were now wearing fresh clothes. They were still pretty dirty looking and it was almost comical to see the bright white of the t-shirts against the grimy flesh. She went back over to the stool she had occupied previously and sat down with a sigh. Already she was itching to grab another bottle and start drinking some more, but she had to keep it under control for now. Cassie needed to figure out a way to convince them to bring her with when they left. And the young woman knew they would leave, probably would try and search out there group.

"Can we stay here tonight?" Rick asked as he took a sip from the water bottle. Sure they could leave, but with no vehicle they would be in town already, and he figured it would be best to keep an eye on the woman. He was still not sure she could be trusted, and didn't want to risk her robbing them blind. He saw the look of disbelief on Carl's face and wished that he could have explained this to him, but there hadn't been time. Then he noticed that she had looked shocked at the question, but also a bit relieved.


End file.
